There are many process improvement methodologies that we should consider to identify gaps in your processes. Those methods are used to operate more efficiently and minimize expenses by achieving the preferred outcome.
Below we have listed some of the preferred methods which are the most helpful tools for process improvement, such as:
Lean Manufacturing Tool
Lean Manufacturing tools are the process improvement methodologies that eliminate all wasteful practices to achieve efficiency. The goal of lean manufacturing tools is to find a better way to do things, requiring less energy, less time, and resources.
- Kaizen
- 5S
Kaizen
Kaizen is a system that requires cooperation and support from all levels of employees in the organization. Everyone is inspired to brainstorm and come up with ideas for improvement regularly. It is a continuous activity, carried out throughout the year.
Employees from all levels of a company work together proactively to achieve continuous process improvements to the business processes. In this way, different types of experiences and skills can be collected and delivered together to create very powerful techniques for process improvement.
Kaizen is a process, that eliminates hard work and supports smart work, motivates employees to conduct experiments through their advice, and also improves and reduces waste in the process.
Kaizen’s method guides employees to think in different ways about their work. They are pushed to think about how their current work can be further improved to achieve greater success.
There are three stages that we need to consider during the implementation of Kaizen in any organization.
- Encourage participation – To ensure active participation from all employees, the initial knowledge about Kaizen must be created. After the necessary information training sessions are provided, manage, and promote Kaizen results and provide bonuses to employees on successful implementations of ideas which are the results of these functions. In such cases, direct involvement of management is also important.
- Training and Education – Proper training is required for managers to learn the principle of Kaizen. The management level should completely understand Kaizen in an organizational idea context, which needs to be followed seriously to achieve the desired business results. They must also be instructed on how to be equal towards everyone and support their employees to actively participate.
- Quality level improvement – After training is completed, people should remain focused on making changes in process improvement. They should take measures to start making small and incremental changes towards achieving long-term goals, like improving efficiency, processes, and quality.
In organizations where Kaizen is being implemented, transparency between different levels of the organization is very important. Effective communication should take place between all levels of employees. While employees are brainstorming for ideas, it is important that management also gets involved in these sessions.
The manager also should ensure that their suggestions and ideas are being acted upon immediately and not delayed by a week or month. Employees should be kept informed about other activities going on in the team and how their ideas are being worked upon.
People should not feel that their ideas have all gone waste and are not being used. A positive mindset is what will help in managing Kaizen alive in the organization. Thus, the constant application of Kaizen creates huge long-term value by developing the culture that is needed for true continuous improvement.
5S Method
The 5S is a process improvement method that includes fundamental guidance to improve the workplace efficiently. 5S is an approach to organizing, ordering, cleaning, standardizing, and continuously improving a work area. This method is used in many industries such as manufacturing and production, healthcare, and so on.
5S makes the workplace more effective by:
- Sort – Removing unwanted parts from each work area.
- Set – Customize each work area to maximize effectiveness.
- Shine – Cleaning each work area after every shift to help find and eliminate issues before they become major problems.
- Standardize – Document all improvements for the working area.
- Sustain – Be sure that each step is repeated to ensure continuous improvement.
The 5S is one of the easiest and most flexible methods that can be used in the company. It is also the perfect solution to combine with the Kanban Board and Kaizen to create a workplace more suitable and effective.
Six Sigma
Six Sigma was developed by Motorola (and the current Motorola registered service mark and trademark), the Six Sigma is a business management strategy. It is popularly used in many industries. By using various management methods such as statistical methods, Six Sigma is used to find and delete any defects or errors during the manufacturing and business process.
Six Sigma is a statistical and data method used to improve the process. It is one of the most popular methodologies. There are several methods of improvement process with Six sigma, such as:
- DMAIC
- SIPOC
DMAIC Method
DMAIC is a tool divided into 5-steps to improve the process in business. Generally, this method can be used in all types of industries.
Define – the projects, the goals, and the deliverables to customers (internal and external);
Measure – the current performance of the process;
Analyze – and determine the root cause(s) of the defects;
Improve – the process to eliminate defects
Control – the performance of the process
Each phase has key deliverables that are used as documentation and evaluation.
Define Step
A clear and specific definition of the problem is important in project selection and prioritization. A well-defined problem sets ground rules for improvement.
At this phase, a primary part should be prepared for the Project Startup which will identify objectives and key processes.
Project startup or Project charter will identify the objective of the key subprocess as an example of Quality improvement, Increase Productivity, Reducing cost, Time cycle, and so on.
Each subprocess should have different objectives based on the process group.
Every process needs a team and team leader who will follow the process. Teams should be employees who currently have experience in the process and have knowledge of the existing process, which can be useful to define gaps and bottlenecks.
Every team should be interviewed with the focus group. After the minutes of the meeting, the group should provide the data collected to the team leader and start preparing the process as a first draft. After the finished first draft of the current process flowchart (AS-IS process), the draft should be revised with the team to identify the activity, roles, and responsibilities of the team involved in the process.
The second step of the defined phase is Procedure standard operations based on the flowchart designed for the subprocess which is linked to one process group.
After the AS-iS flowchart is defined and finished, prepared, and approved procedure from the stockholders, the second phase of DMAIC is the measurement phase.
Measure Step
In the first phase (Define phase) the prior part is identifying the key objectives and goals/achievements, the second phase is the Measurement phase meaning collecting primary data between the activity. Without measurement, there is no control.
The methodology of measurement can be identified where gaps are and what you need to do to improve defects in the process.
Analyze Step
In the second phase of DMAIC, the measurement phase consists of collecting the primary data based on the Process group, checking where are bottlenecks, and how to improve process AS-IS.
This phase consists of an analysis of secondary data information from the existing sources, tools, and equipment.
After collected Primary data and Secondary data team will have a clear picture of where the deviations are in the process group.
In this phase comparison of the Primary data and Secondary data will give the alternatives for each activity by identifying the delays and bottlenecks of the process group.
Using the right approach, analytical tools, or methods will help to find a clearly defined solution. Data is analyzed into information to create a knowledge base and make decisions for actions.
Each alternative shall be reviewed with the team to define the best solutions with the minimal expenses in the process.
Improve Step
The alternative in the 3rd phase as a continued part is the improvement of the process.
This phase includes requirements or datasheet for Business Process Automation to eliminate the deviations and bottlenecks of the process which need to be approved by the stakeholders.
Selecting and implementing the best solution to remove the cause of a problem will bring the desired result. Improvements are corrective and preventive actions. This phase consists of changes in the process flowchart TO-BE, parts where deviations are higher and need to take action for improvement. With subprocess updates, Procedure standard operations shall be updated based on the alternatives given in the project implementation plan.
Control Step
After the approved part of the stakeholders for the implementation of the improvement activities, monitoring becomes an essential part of the process control. This phase includes a follow-up of a system implementation for Business Process Automation, updates of the timeline, and Gantt Chart, and continuously informing the stakeholders of updates.
Part of the control shall include collaboration and training plans for the team involved in the Process group. After the finished system and training, the Team leader of the process shall prepare the Project Closure defining the risks and issues during the phases and submit it to stakeholders for review and approval.
SIPOC Method
SIPOC is used to define your process by Supplier, Input, Process, Output, and Customer. SIPOC is a technique that helps to organize the data and resources in the business process. This method mainly uses manufacturing companies with complicated processes that are not properly organized.
SIPOC is divided into 5 categories which will catch the different steps depending on the complexity of the workflow.
Supplier – can be anyone who provides you with the data to carry out the process, such as department, customer, management, etc.
Input – can be different forms of information or other resources that are needed to carry out the process.
Process – Structured steps used to convert inputs into outputs.
Output – Results of products or services of the process.
Customer – Receiver of the outputs.
Total Quality Management
Total Quality Management (TQM) is a management system that involves all employees in continual improvement. It can be defined as a quality discipline or culture of the business that uses tools such as strategy, data, and communications for activities to be more productive.
The techniques that are used in TQM can be defined as the PDCA Cycle (Plan, Do, Check, Act).
PDCA Cycle
The purpose of PDCA is to provide a structure that manages the process of problem-solving and process improvement.
PDCA Cycle includes 4 phases of the process
The plan – phase identifies the problem and objectives. The team involved in the planning phase chooses the problem that requires to be solved and delivers the required objectives. In this phase, you analyze the current situation, identify options for the solution, and select and list the most promising solutions.
Do – phase includes implementing the solution more generally, gathering data for later analysis, and measuring progress.
Do phase ensures that the solution is properly tested and suitable for obtaining expected results, and ensure that this solution is approved before doing the complete implementation.
The check–phase includes analyzing the collected data and actual results toward the planned objectives. It provides the results that how well the solution is performed and considers whether needs further improvements or not.
This phase also identifies the different unexpected gaps, through data gathering, and conclusions of their causes, which gives a clear picture that should be continued or even repeated in the Do and Check phases until received the expected results.
The act – phase includes the feedback and lessons learned for the implemented solution. This phase includes the full documentation of the process improvement and implementation in the Organization.
Toyota Production System (TPS)
Developed by Toyota “The TPS is a management system that organizes manufacturing and logistics for the automobile manufacturer, including interaction with suppliers and customers.” By Wikipedia
The most preferred technique is the Kanban board.
Kanban Board
Kanban Boards is a system that uses mapping of the individual employee work. Is a system in which employees can easily manage their tasks through a visualization workflow. It uses the sticky notes placed into the columns on a large board.
The main components of the Kanban boards are:
Cards – represent visual tasks and their status. (example deadline, assignee, etc.)
Columns – represent a different stage of the workflow.
Work-in-Progress Limits – represent limited and restricted steps that tasks should be going through.
Swimlanes – represent the horizontal lines that you can use to classify different tasks, teams, different types of services, etc.
Business Process Management (BPM)
Business Process Management is a methodology for continuous improvement. It is the method that you should be constantly analyzing and optimizing business processes.
In the BPM lifecycle, there are several phases that need to consider such as:
- Designing,
- Modeling
- Executing,
- Monitoring,
- Improving,
